Research shows that children who use a telephone or watch television during meals are significantly more likely to be overweight
Research has shown that children who use a telephone or watch television during meals are much more likely to be overweight.
The decline of the family meal is likely contributing to the childhood obesity crisis, with the ‘distraction’ of screens keeping children from realizing they are full.
Researchers found that those who were allowed to use devices while eating were 15 percent more likely to be overweight than those who were not.
A team from the University of Minho, Portugal, studied the eating habits of 735 children aged six to ten years, asking each child about the food they had consumed in the past 24 hours and asking parents about their rules around eating. use of screens during meals.
At the European Congress on Obesity in Venice yesterday, experts said their findings were likely an underestimate because some parents may not have admitted to letting their children use screens at breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Research has shown that children who use a telephone or watch television during meals are much more likely to be overweight. File photo
Lead researcher Dr Ana Duarte (pictured) said: ‘We are so busy now that we don’t seem to have time to all sit together for a family meal’
Lead researcher Dr Ana Duarte said: ‘We are so busy now that we don’t seem to have time to all sit together for a family meal. “When kids are eating and watching something on TV or on a cell phone… they keep eating and eating because they are distracted by the screens.”
Tam Fry, co-founder of the Child Growth Foundation, said: ‘Family meals are fast becoming a distant memory and fat children are developing diseases such as diabetes that used to be undetectable only to adults.
‘This is a shame. Clearly, allowing children to mindlessly graze while networking or slumped in front of the television is detrimental to their health. Tragically, this has become a way of life for many families in Britain.
“It’s now 20 years since the first plausible strategy to beat obesity was published, and yet we are further than ever from solving the problem.”
Excessive screen time has also been linked to health problems, including increased blood pressure, diabetes and poor sleep.
According to communications regulator Ofcom, around 91 percent of children in Britain have a smartphone by the age of 11.
An eight-year-old typically spends two hours and 45 minutes online every day. And this increases to more than four hours a day by the time they reach high school.